January 17, 2015

Saturday Night at the Movies #138 – American Sniper

A couple of years ago, I blogged about a book written by a Navy SEAL who turned into an ultra-successful sniper, titled American Sniper. A movie based on the book came out this weekend, and when my brother Kelly told me that he was going to watch it and let me have his thoughts, I told him to write those thoughts and I would post them in my blog. His review is attached below.

Incidentally, a couple of Facebook friends have already posted their evaluations. One guy, ex-military, said he was moved by the movie and was struck by the silence as he left the theater. The other guy, a secular Yuppie, said the movie was mediocre.

At a Happy Hour today, an ultra-conservative friend told me that American Sniper was one of the best movies ever made, and you can imagine my surprise when he later said he hadn’t seen the movie.

Kelly’s review is as follows:

American Sniper is a great movie! Starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller. Directed by Clint Eastwood. Based on the book of the same name. A true story.

The movie goes back and forth to his stateside life and his fighting in Iraq.

It is a love story and a war story and shows how he is torn between the two lives – the family at home he loves and the Marines in Iraq he wants to protect.

The war action is dramatic and intense and realistic. The bravery these men show is unbelievable.

Kyle serves four tours of duty before deciding to “come home,” as he tells his wife. He suffers from PTSD, and sees a doctor at the VA who thinks the problem is from the 160-some confirmed kills he had. He says he has no problems with the shots he made, but he has problems with the ones he could not make that cost a marines life.

The ending is handled greatly with showing him in a happy family life and helping veterans, and he tells his wife he is going to take a vet who is having trouble to the shooting range.

Great acting by Cooper and Miller.

It lasts about 2 hours and it is very fast paced and entertaining.

Full disclosure – Kelly is a patriot, too. The Rotten Tomatoes critics score the movie at 73% and the audience at 89%.